Evidence of meeting #73 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:40 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
I have a number of questions. You had an audit in 2005 that said you had weaknesses. In 2010, you had an adverse opinion. In 2017, you had another adverse opinion.
By your testimony, you make it sound like the president who is no longer with the corporation may have been the reason for a lot of your things. Was he the president in 2005 and 2010 as well?
9:40 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
No, I believe that was John Wood.
9:40 a.m.
Stan Lazar Interim President, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
In 2010, it was John Wood. In 2005, it would have been a gentleman named Bob Hand.
9:40 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
If you've had ongoing problems since 2005, that would mean, then, that you can't really point to one person as the problem.
9:40 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
That's correct. What we did in 2010 was implement procedures to address the recommendations, as noted by the Auditor General, but those fell by the wayside before the time of the audit.
9:40 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
This marketing board has been in place since 1969. From what I've read, it doesn't seem to have moved with the times. I guess that's the biggest concern. It's not addressing the changes that are happening in fisheries.
Would that be a fair statement?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
I think that we have adapted to the absence of Saskatchewan; 95% of their fish are selling through us. It looks like most of the fishermen in Manitoba are as well.
We've looked at new products, such as caviar. We've found a way to move whitefish more effectively. We've adapted to opportunities in the market. We've had to, obviously, shift some of our market from places like Russia, but we are adapting and changing the product mix.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
You said that even with Manitoba pulling out of the agreement, the fishers are still signing contracts to market with you. Is that correct? Is that what your statement was?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
That's correct.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
That's the decision for them.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
What's the reason that they gave you? Are they just saying, they're done?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
They didn't talk to us about that. There was no consultation with us.
I think they were looking at moving to an open market. That would appear to be the rationale. Having said that and looking at the demographics of the people who are selling to us, I'd say that not a lot are going to have access to alternatives in the short term.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
All that will be left within the board specifically will be the Northwest Territories.
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
That's correct. In the Northwest Territories, we still have an obligation to buy everything that was offered to us, and they have an obligation to sell everything. Everywhere else, that is a choice that the fishermen have to make on their own.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
The thing that I just heard from the Office of the Auditor General that I can't believe is that you haven't had a vice-president of sales and marketing since 2015. How can a marketing board not have a VP of marketing?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
We have a VP now. We hired one.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
But you went for two years, or a year and a half, without one.
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
We had a gap, yes. As noted by the Office of the Auditor General, normal human resources policies weren't being followed. The policies that were in place were not followed. There was a determination by the management that they could sell the fish on their own, and that was not the case.
When I was appointed in late February 2016, the biggest problem we had was too much inventory. It wasn't being properly managed.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Here's my other question, and I'm going to paraphrase a bit. I hope I have this right; I wrote it down as fast as I could. The Auditor General's office, which we just spoke to—and you would have heard the testimony—said that they can think of five adverse opinions that they've given in the roughly 90 reviews that they did. Two of those would be yours. Two would be for this organization.
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
That's correct. In 2010 there was work done to correct the issues. I think the track record on retained earnings, for example, would indicate that it was being acted upon, but the issues were not being properly followed; the procedures were not followed during the time of the special examination in 2015-16.
That's why the government took corrective action.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but do you really think there's still a place for you in the market today with what we've heard since 2005 with regard to the way this board been managed and run? Manitoba is now pulling out; Saskatchewan is out; one left in Ontario.... All that's left is the Northwest Territories. Do you still feel that in 2017 a board that was started in 1969 and that did not move with the times still has a reason for existence?
9:45 a.m.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
There's a reason why all the fishermen are signing contracts, and that's because the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation is their point of contact with the world markets. That's not going to change with the withdrawal of the Province of Manitoba from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act.
However, that's a question for the Government of Canada. They have done the consultations. They are looking at a way forward. Our obligation as a board is to keep the assets owned by the Canadian public valuable, to maintain their value. Also, we have the obligation, whether or not people are in the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act to maximize the returns to fishers. That's our raison d'être in the short term, but the longer term is for the Government of Canada to determine. We have told them that we would maintain the asset values of the corporation pending their decision.
